The Weeknd hit the Super Bowl LV halftime stage on Sunday night for a lackluster performance.
Besides an underwhelming show, the Grammy-winning artist made headlines for his closing song “Blinding Lights,” during which dozens of dancers lined the football field donning full faces of bandages.
The Canadian hitmaker, 30, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, previously told Variery about the meaning behind the bandages.
“The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated,” The Weeknd told Variety. “It’s all a progression and we watch the character’s storyline hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on.”
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The performer has been wearing bandages and prosthetic makeup since last year while promoting his new album, “After Hours.”
“I suppose you could take that being attractive isn’t important to me but a compelling narrative is,” he admitted to the outlet.
The Weeknd previously appeared at the 2020 AMAs in Novemebr with a fake bloodied and bandaged face.
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In fact, he’s been appearing in public with fake injuries since August when he accepted awards at the MTV Video Music Awards in a similar getup.
According to Yahoo Music, the bandages are part of a sort-of method acting move from the artist, whose VMA-winning music video for the hit song “Blinding Lights” shows him getting beaten up by bouncers and then injured in a drunk-driving accident.
The Weeknd performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The track belongs to the album “After Hours,” which the Weeknd explained to GQ is a concept album from the perspective of a “character losing his mind in Vegas.”
In addition to getting bloodied in the “Blinding Lights” video, he also debuted his bloody-faced alter ego in “Heartless,” the album’s first music video in September 2019. All subsequent videos from the album have shared a similar theme.
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On Sunday night, The Weeknd’s 14-minute show also featured his hit singles “Starboy,” “Earned It,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” and “I Feel It Coming.”
Fox News’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
